Space Shuttle Endeavour Launches Vertically in LA This Fall

On November 13, Los Angeles will become home to something no other place on Earth can claim: a full space shuttle standing tall and ready to launch, forever.

The California Science Center's new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center opens that day, unveiling Space Shuttle Endeavour in its dramatic vertical position. The 20-story building completes a $450 million expansion that the Science Center first dreamed up in 1993.

What makes this display truly special? It's the world's only complete shuttle stack, featuring the orbiter, solid rocket boosters, and one of the rare surviving external fuel tanks. Only three space shuttles remain, and Endeavour made 25 successful missions between 1992 and 2011 before arriving in LA via piggyback on a Boeing 747 in 2012.

Dennis R. Jenkins, the project director who spent 30 years with NASA working on shuttles, still gets emotional. "I walk in there 50 times a day, and 50 times a day it takes my breath away," he said.

The experience starts with a film produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot company, ending in a simulated launch complete with fog machines. Then the walls retract, revealing Endeavour in full glory.

Visitors can explore from every angle. The second floor lets you peek inside the payload bay where satellites once rode to space. Walk downstairs and stand beneath the massive engines. Take the glass elevator to the 20th floor and look straight down at the shuttle through a transparent floor.

Why This Inspires

Retired astronaut Barbara Morgan, who flew aboard Endeavour in 2007, captured what this means for future generations. "This takes me back! I am right there again, strapped in, excited to launch," she said. "But this is even better, because here now is Endeavour for our future generations. She will launch big dreams."

About 400 construction workers a day worked at peak to make this happen. The sleek building, designed by ZGF Architects, finished construction in April after years of careful planning and engineering.

Lynda Oschin, whose late husband Samuel the gallery honors, said the shuttle represents everything he loved: exploration, inspiration, children, math, and science. Now millions of visitors from around the world will get to share that wonder.

The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center marks the completion of a master plan more than three decades in the making, giving one of humanity's greatest achievements the home it deserves.